Enterprise application integration (EAI) market revenues are poised to soar by 50% to US$2.5 billion in 2000, reveals recent research from Aberdeen Group. The research attributes the dramatic EAI market growth to the industry's "drive to capitalize on e-business" as well as the "urgent demand" for e-business integration (EBI).

The momentum behind the EAI market is so strong that it places EAI alongside e-commerce as the "most important initiatives" facing CIOs of the Global 2000, reports Aberdeen. This means new challenges for traditional EAI vendors -- in the form of the the impact of the Net economy.

The research advises that IT managers responsible for planning and managing EAI initiatives keep a close watch on the evolving nature of EAI.

"A company's suite of e-commerce applications must now be part of their overall EAI objective," said Tom Dwyer, managing director of Aberdeen Group's Internet Infrastructure practice. "The previous narrow definition of EAI -- integrating enterprise applications within a company -- must change to reflect this trend and encompass the integration of enterprise applications between companies through a single, assimilated approach. The demand for external integration with an enterprise's customers, partners, and suppliers is so powerful that many EAI suppliers are already embracing EBI and profoundly changing their product and marketing strategies."

The Aberdeen report profiles 50 EAI vendors.